Taekwondo Market Deeping

It's got to be said that Taekwondo can be very physically challenging, which might put off the older and less agile folks in Market Deeping from becoming involved. To be truthful, the most frequent people participating in Taekwondo classes are kids and the younger generation, but obviously older individuals who're in decent physical health can easily take part and benefit from this sport.

Taekwondo is one of the more recently developed of the martial arts, with its beginnings in Korea, South-East Asia in 1945. A group of Korean martial arts specialists in Seoul established some new schools which they called "kwans", combining a variety of martial arts techniques. Taekwondo, which was eventually called, mostly entails kicking manoeuvres, especially turning/jumping kicks, head-height kicks and rapid kicking methods.

Taekwondo has become extremely popular in Market Deeping and all over the world, with more than 60 million participants worldwide. Becoming a member of a local Market Deeping Taekwondo club or class is a great way to become involved in this activity which has even featured in the Olympic Games since the Sydney Games in 2000. While you may not aspire to Olympic competition, there is no reason why you shouldn't become a maestro of this enjoyable martial art and have some fun along the way.

For a lot of folks in Market Deeping, it's the self-defence element of Taekwondo that has the most appeal. And in these days of increased violence, especially in city and town centres, it's no surprise that this aspect sits high up on people's priority lists. It is a primary factor of Taekwondo that you can become confident in your capability to defend yourself and at the same time learn to respect others and practice self-restraint.

While its great to know that you can defend yourself any time you need to, it's hoped that you never need to test this outside of your local Taekwondo club environment.

What to Expect From Your First Lesson

Different Taekwondo clubs in Market Deeping will have different viewpoints on what students should cover on their very first class, however to give you a perception of what you can expect most first Taekwondo classes will incorporate a warm-up, a bit of sparring, learning basic forms (Poomse), an introduction to blocking techniques, hand attacks, kicks and stances (practical training) and a final warm-down to relax tired muscles and get the body back to a state of harmony.

Any person who joins a Taekwondo club in Market Deeping has to also become a member of British Taekwondo which is the official governing body of the sport in the UK. You can get plenty of info on safeguarding and equality, beginning a new club, health and safety, events, members and clubs, coaches and tournament referees, coaching courses, first aid, news, and more, by heading to British Taekwondo's website.

Tournaments and Competitions

There are an array of contests in Taekwondo associated with all the diverse styles. They primarily include breaking, sparring and patterns with very little hard contact. ITF (International Taekwon-Do Federation) competitions don't allow disproportionate contact but sometimes permit hand attacks aimed at the head. WT and Olympic tournaments allow only sparring. Multi-style contests also take place.

Taekwondo Forms (Patterns)

Taekwondo forms (also known as patterns or Poomse) are distinguished by particular aspects such as technique, direction and stance. From the outset you are going to be taught a few of the standard forms, and in order to advance through the various levels (belts) you'll have to master some more technical ones.

Taekwondo Belts (Promotion)

With regards to ranking, promotion and belts there isn't actually any real standardisation in Taekwondo, since there are many different styles of Taekwondo which each have their own specific arrangement. There are however parallels and they generally comprise two groupings of belts "juniors" and "seniors" represented by coloured and black belts respectively. The senior levels typically have nine ranks and the junior, eight to twelve grades.

Ranks (belts) in Taekwondo in the UK are depicted by what generally known as "Kup". The top rank is First Kup and the lowest rank is Tenth Kup. If you are interested in the Taekwondo belt order, it's as follows, and is portrayed by a range of different colours i.e. white, yellow, green, blue and red, with intermediary belts with stripes, namely white with a yellow stripe, yellow with a green stripe, green with a blue stripe, blue with a red stripe and red with a black stripe. Beginner students of Taekwondo in Market Deeping will begin with the 10th Kup (White Belt), and progress through the different coloured belts until they attain the Red With Black Stripe Belt (1st Kup).

As soon as this training regime has been completed, Market Deeping Taekwondo students become "black belt candidates", and they must then progress through a further 9 Dans (ranks) if they are to achieve the title of Taekwondo "Black Belt", which of course is the consummate distinction. Therefore, putting it simply, there are 3 main groupings in the Taekwondo belt order, that is Junior, Senior and Black Belt. The Junior Taekwondo Belts comprise; White (10th), White With Yellow Stripe (9th), Yellow (8th), and Yellow With Green Stripe (7th). The Senior Taekwondo Belts are; Green (6th), Green With Blue Stripe (5th), Blue (4th), Blue With Red Stripe (3rd), Red (2nd) and Red With Black Stripe (1st). The Black Taekwondo Belts go from 1st to 9th Dan which will take a number of years to successfully progress through. (Tags: Order of Belts in Taekwondo, Taekwondo Belt Order, Taekwondo Rankings Market Deeping, Taekwondo Belts Market Deeping).

Taekwondo Kicks

Taekwondo is perhaps best known for its acrobatic kicking, here are some of the standard kicks that you'll learn as a beginner: Axe Kick (Naeryeo Chagi), Push Kick (Meereo Chagi), Whip or Hook Kick (Huryeo Chagi), Back Kick (Dwo Chagi), Roundhouse Kick (Dollyo Chagi), Front Kick (Ap Chagi), Crescent Kick (Bandal Chagi), Side Kick (Yeop Chagi). Blocks: To fend off the many hand attacks and kicks there are an equally diverse array of "blocks". Held in various positions, they use the hand and areas of the arm. Every block can be coupled with a punch or kick to produce a counter-attacking move, and each block is appropriate for a certain type of attack. The most important "blocks" in Taekwondo include: Double Knife Hand Block, Double Forearm Block, Nine Block, Palm Block, Knife Hand Block, Single Forearm Block, Rising Block, Upper Block and Low Block.

Taekwondo Beginners Classes

Even the finest exponents of Taekwondo in Market Deeping set out as newbies, so there's no shame in being a beginner at Tae kwon do, or any other activity for that matter. The aim of a Taekwondo beginner class is to teach just a few basics, increase confidence and develop a firm base moving forward. Most importantly of all is that it needs to be enjoyable, students having a good time are going to learn quicker and be better invested.

Conclusion

So, what are you looking to get from Taekwondo? Well, that is an excellent question, and the answer to that will be different for individual people. The majority of participants will just wish to gain more self-confidence, meet new people and improve their levels of fitness. We're certainly not all going to scale the dizzy heights of Jade Jones or Lutalo Muhammad, though maybe you will, who knows?